


The Gifted Ones

by FC2000



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Human Experiments, baby maybe?, lab rats, rating might go up or down, read and see, starts with them as kids, the force exists, things get bloody again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:30:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7956892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FC2000/pseuds/FC2000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Are you gifted, too?  Is that why you're here?”</p><p>A boy and girl who share special abilities, under the constant study of First Order Industries scientists.  They are considered the pride and joy of their work until they grow up to discover what they were really made for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival of an Asset

**Author's Note:**

> My new ficcy project. And it just might be as dark as the first one. ;)
> 
> Despite what the setting might suggest. This is a completely new and different story from Imbalance. The story will go back and forth between the past and present. I never wrote in such a way before so patience be appreciated. Thanks and lots of love. :)

The blood was getting everywhere. The young man who had his hands gripped to the steering wheel so tight, failed to realize that he was only spreading it. He looked like he had survived a horror movie. But it was nothing compared to his companion in the passenger seat. She had blood all over her as well and was shaking uncontrollably. He it was because of what they had done...more like what _she_ had done.

“Rey, you need to calm down,” the man said looking behind him as he drove erratically down the road. “I think we lost them.”

“We're not going to lose them, Kyle,” Rey cried. “They're gonna kill us when they find us, aren't they?”

“Yeah,” Kyle muttered, knowing that Rey would appreciate the honesty. Yet it was only half true. They would kill him without question. He had already done enough to anger them. But Rey was far too valuable. Regardless of what she had done and what she could do, they wouldn't kill her over it when she was far too rare and irreplaceable to them.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I don't know yet. Just let me think.”

Before Kyle could, they could hear the sirens getting louder. And in the rear view mirror of a car that clearly wasn't theirs, he could see the flashing blue and red.

“Shit...”

__________________________________________________________ 

**10 Years Ago**

Snoke was peering at the brooding teen who had shown up on his doorstep with a story that even he couldn't believe. Until the DNA tests came back and it was a perfect match. It seemed too good to be true that the boy would even find his labs given all the history. Surely his parents would have done everything in their power to hide this place from him. 

But it seemed that the boy had learned the truth for himself.

“You realize that if you do this, there is no turning back,” said Snoke. “You won't be allowed to return to your family or step outside these facilities unless under strict supervision. Your life will no longer be your own.”

“What's it matter?” said the teen. “How can I go back now that I know that I'm a...”

“A freak? Far from it, boy. What you possess is a gift...a gift that can be harnessed and used to its full potential. You will be able to do amazing things beyond the possibility of any normal human.”

“I don't understand how...” The boy was starting sit there with tears in his eyes. He was only 15 years old. He shouldn't be crying like this but the past week had taken its toll on him. “Why would my parents lie to me about this about where I...where we came from?

“Because they are foolish,” said the old man. “From what you've told me, it seems that your mother and uncle are ashamed of their origins and thought they could blend in with normal humans...determined to erase your grandfather's legacy.”

“So it's true...about my grandfather.”

“Yes.”

“Was it always in my family?” the boy asked.

“No. Your grandfather was the first...created here in these very labs.”

“By you?”

Snoke smirked. “No, not by me. I was merely a young intern when they created your grandfather. They feared he was far too powerful but he proved to be exceptionally talented and skilled. They sent him out into the field when he was quite young but he proved himself worthy. The military was impressed and our funding went through the roof.”

“Then what happened?”

Snoke shook his head. “The worst thing that could happen. There was a young doctor...around my age at the time...Dr. Padme Amidala. She'd been working close with your grandfather, supervising and studying his abilities since his younger years. Without us knowing, the two had become...infatuated with one another. Then it was discovered that she was with child...”

The boy was stunned.

“Before the head of EmpireCo could act, Dr. Amidala and your grandfather escaped and ran away together. A massive search party was sent out to find them. When Dr. Amidala's body was found, she was no longer pregnant and the autopsy results showed our worst fear. Your grandfather had...malfunctioned.”

“He...he killed her?”

“Yes,” said Snoke. “Whatever set him off allowed his abilities to lose control and any living being that stood in his way paid the price. But of course, you know what became of him as well. It remains a mystery to us as to how your uncle and mother learned of their origins but I have a few ideas. Have I upset you, boy?”

“No…,” he said. “I'm glad I know. My family can go to hell for hiding EmpireCo from me.”

“Well I'm afraid that EmpireCo no longer exists. I gather what manpower and funds we had to form First Order Industries but rest assured we have been continuing their work with everything we have and know. Your presence here has already proven to be a great asset to us. Now we know that these abilities can be inherited by the offspring. Shall we go?”

The boy followed Snoke reluctantly on a tour of the labs. The place seemed invisible from the outside given that the entire facility was hidden in the depths of a massive forest. But inside it was the largest singular place the boy had ever come across. The halls were bland and white almost like a hospital. And many rooms had secured doors marked “Restricted Access”. They entered one of the rooms at the far end of the hall. The room was setup like a large doctor's office but with two medical beds and not just one. Snoke handed the boy a patient gown. “I'll leave you in Doctor Phasma's capable hands. Best you change before she arrives.” He stopped just short of the door. “One more thing...I suggest that as a security measure you go by a different name of your choosing here. We don't want your family to track you down and force you back to your life of misery, now do we?”

The boy was finally left alone to change out of his clothing. Once he was in he patient gown and sitting on the medical bed, he was starting to have second thoughts, but reminded himself of all the lies his family told him...about who he was and what he could do. Snoke was a man who was willing to be honest with him. Snoke was a man who would be able to understand him far more than his parents or uncle did. He would be able to teach him more things as well.

The door opened and a tall female doctor came into the room. Following her in was a little girl in a patient gown clinging a teddy bear. 

“You must be the boy,” said Dr. Phasma. “Snoke asked me to give you a full physical. But first I need to give Rey her scheduled medication.”

The little girl, Rey, climbed her way onto the empty medical bed across from the boy. While he was doing his best to ignore her, Rey was eying him with immense curiosity. Dr. Phasma stepped out of the room to gather a few more thing leaving the two of them alone.

The girl's voice finally broke the silence. “Are you gifted, too? Is that why you're here?”

“What?” She had to be talking about something else, the boy thought. There was no possible way that anyone outside of his family could have possessed the same abilities he did unless his uncle had a secret kid he didn't know about. But he was certain that wasn't the case.

The teddy bear in Rey's arms had slipped from her grasp and dropped to the floor. The boy considered doing the kind thing to get it for her so she wouldn't have to struggle with getting back onto the bed. But just as he was bending down, he watched the stuffed toy rise a few inches from the floor.

He looked up and saw Rey with her hand stretched out, in full concentration. The bear began to rise up and it floated in thin air...all the way back into her arms.

The boy sat there, aghast. “How...how did you?”

“You can do it too, can you?”

He looked over at a glass jar sitting on one of the counters and used all the concentration he had. At first it seemed like nothing would happen. Then the glass jar started to wobble and shake until it made its way across the counter and crash onto the floor.

“Ooh!” Rey squealed with excitement. “You are like me! But I've never seen you in the labs before. Did they make you here, too?”

“Make me?” the boy asked. “What do you mean? Aren't there others like us?”

“No,” said Rey. “I thought it was always me. But now you're here. My name's Rey. What's yours?”

“I'm Be…” The boy stopped remembering what Snoke told him about needed to take on a new identity here. He tried to think of any male name that came to mind. “I'm Kyle,” he said. “Kyle...O'Wren.”

“Kylo-Ren?”

“I said Kyle O 'Wren.”

“Kylo-Ren!”

The boy sighed. “Yeah, that's what I said.”

__________________________________________________________ 

Kyle didn't know what to do. If he tried to lose the cop, the situation would only escalate...or lead to both of them getting killed. They didn't escape just for things to end like this.

“Rey...I'm gonna pull over.”

“You can't!” she protested. “What if I...”

“You won't,” Kyle assured her. “Just relax and nothing will happen. We need to cover up some of this blood.”

Rey and Kyle tried their best but there was no being able to hide all the blood. “I'll handle it, Rey. Don't worry.”

He pulled the car over and the police car quickly stopped behind them. Rey tried to cover herself with the hoodie averting her eyes away from the situation as she hear the footsteps approach. 

The cop seemed to be in a serious mood as he approached the driver side window that Kyle rolled down. “Sir, I'm gonna need to see your driver's license,” he said.

Kyle was grateful for the darkness of night. But then he noticed the cop fiddling with his pockets searching for his flashlights. 

Rey took notice as well and she was starting to feel it. “No,” she whispered. If something were to happen now there would be no going back. How many people have already been killed tonight over something she had no control over?

Kyle place a hand on hers then with his other hand he gave the cop a slight wave. He focused very hard. “You don't need to see my license.”

The cop was shock, angered by the response. “What you say to me?!”

“I said you don't need to see my license,” Kyle spoke with a bit more confidence and determination.

“I don't need to see your license,” the cop repeated in a monotone voice.

“You'll go back to your car and drive in the direction you came from.”

“I'll go back to my car and drive in the direction I came from.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.” The cop seemed to be in a strange trance and he walked back to his police car and started the ignition. Kyle watched the police car make a U-turn and disappear from the road before he finally relaxed. “You see, Rey. We're okay now.”

But Rey wasn't relaxed. “We won't be so lucky next time.”

“Don't think like that,” he said. “What happened back there, that wasn't your fault...”

“I...I think it was,” she cried. “I wanted them dead after what they did...”

Kyle embrace. “I know...I know. You just need some time. You'll be able to control it again.”

“What are we going to do until then? We can't exactly hide among other people. We'll be found out.”

“Yeah.” Kyle weighed his options. The one that kept coming back to him over and over again was pushed in the far back of his mind. It hadn't come to that yet, and he hoped it wouldn't have to. They could manage on their own just fine with their abilities.

He started the car again. “If we keep going, we can go into the mountains. We can hide there.”

“Won't it be cold,” Rey asked. “How will we even eat?”

“I did some Boy Scouts as a kid. We can manage. Plus there won't be other people around. We can use our...skills. No one will think to find us there.”

A few hours of driving and the landscape changed. There were still plenty of trees but a mountain range came onto the horizon, one Rey assumed they would be hiding in. They ditched the car once they were close enough to continue the journey on foot.

The further into the mountains, the better, Kyle thought. For hours they climbed difficult terrain under a starry sky until they found a cave that gave them no view of the world down below. If they couldn't see the towns or roads in the distance then Kyle knew that he had found the right place for the both of them.

They never belonged in that world as it was.

Rey was too exhausted that she passed out upon Kyle declaring the cave safe. And he started a small fire, waving his hand over a pile of sticks he gathered. The smoke wouldn't be seen from this distance.

As tired as he was, Kyle wouldn't be able to sleep. Not that he felt the need to keep watch but knowing that he may have doomed Rey to a difficult predicament. Snoke had praised Kyle coming to First Order Industries as the best thing ever to happen.

Now that he understood why...he would never forgive himself for ever leaving home.


	2. Beginning and End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got bored so I decided to go back to work on this story. We'll see how this plays out.

“He's Anakin's grandson? That's impossible.”

“I assure you, Dr. Phasma, he is.” Snoke continued to watch the boy's interactions with Rey from the observation window.

“Then I don't think it wise to keep those two alone together very long,” said Phasma. “If he were to malfunction like his grandfather...”

“His DNA tests revealed a low midi-chlorian count. He'll be manageable. It's the girl we need to worry about. Hers seems to be multiplying at a faster rate than normal. She will likely surpass Anakin in a few years.”

On the other side of the window, the boy and the girl remained unaware that they were being watched. Kyle was struggling to summon the bits of broken glass from the floor, hoping to fix the jar before anyone came into the room. Rey reached a hand out and the glass suddenly began to bunch in midair, slowly transforming back into the jar it once was. The boy became fixated at how quick and skilled she was at these abilities that they now shared when this was all still new to him.

The wheels in Snoke's head began to turn. He didn't really see the potential in Anakin's grandson, especially after learning of his disappointing midi-chlorian count. Still, he was a blood relation of the original Project Jedi. He would want to gather all the information he could from him.

“I should get back in there.” Dr. Phasma left the room and was on the opposite side of the window. The children remained seemingly unaware. They had gotten the jar fixed in time and hoped that she hadn't noticed. “Are you ready for your dose, Rey?”

Rey nodded.

“You know what to do then?”

She rolled up the sleeve of her patient gown until the shoulder was fully exposed. Kyle watched as Dr. Phasma began to fill the largest syringe he had ever seen, containing a seemingly vile red liquid in it. But what disturbed Kyle even more was how calm Rey was. She wasn't scared. She sat there as if nothing were to happen. How many of these things had she taken in her short life.

“Doctor...what is that?”

The doctor could only mutter, “sit there and we'll begin your physical in a minute.”

Kyle shook impatiently in his seat watching Dr. Phasma prepare Rey for the shot. He couldn't keep his eyes open once the needle went into her. He expected noise, but then…

“Very good, Rey! And you really didn't feel a thing?”

“No ma'am,” the girl replied.

“I'll have someone take you back to your room now.”

“Can I stay and watch Kylo please?” Rey begged.

The doctor laughed. “Rey, I'm gonna have to take the boy's gown off and you don't wanna be here to see that. Now let's see if Mitaka's outside and he can escort you back to your room, okay?”

Rey felt disappointed but still pushed herself off the table, taking the bear with her. Phasma grabbed the little girl by the hand. “Bye Kylo!” Rey waved happily to him on the way out the door.

The physical seemed to be a standard affair. Kyle spent the whole time staring at a long rectangular mirror while Dr. Phasma seemed to be checking every part of his body. He's been to doctors before. He should have been used to this kind of thing. But knowing that he was likely to get the same stuff Rey got made him nervous.

He had to remind himself that this what he signed up for.

After everything was complete. Kyle's worst fears were confirmed...the giant red syringe. The one they had given Rey...the needle went straight into his forearm but unlike the girl, Kyle couldn't help but cry out in pain. He could feel a fire spreading up and down his arm.

“It always hurts the first time,” the doctor assured him. “After a few months of injections, the body will adjust and you won't feel a thing.”

“Months? How many of these do I have to take?!”

“One a day at least.” Dr. Phasma looked at Kyle who looked like he was going to faint. “You have nothing to worry about. Rey has been taking these since infancy and she's perfectly fine. And judging by your physical results, your vital signs are good, medical history is clean...your body will be able to handle the injections.”

His grandfather...Kyle remembered. His grandfather must have taken these injections for god knows how long before he fled this place.

“What are they for?”

“I'm under Snoke's orders not to divulge that information to you. When you signed the contracts, you agreed that all information can be only obtained and permitted through him. Is that understood?”

He did, but Kyle didn't think he would be putting himself this much at risk...not to discover what he was capable of.

Snoke continued to observe. It was easy for him to turn his chair around to observe the other window leading to a large labaratory where Kyle was eventually taken to undergo a CAT scan. He had a video monitor where he could observe the results. The brain scans appeared normal but he could faintly see a small glow within the confines of the skull. In any other case, a glow like that would be bad, but Snoke recognized the familiar satisfying patterns right away.

It was the gift...or as he like to call it, the Force.

__________________________________________________________ 

It didn't take long for Rey to sleep. He didn't want to leave her alone now that they were on their own, but they needed to eat.

Kyle also knew that if they over-use their abilities, Snoke would sense it. He would be able to track them.

Truly, there was no sign of civilization within sight. He saw in the distance what could possibly be an antenna tower but there was not much else outside of the natural landscape. It was fine for now, but they couldn't live like animals for the rest of their lives. Not Rey…not after what they lost…

He made it back in an hour with two dead rabbits in his hands but Rey was already sitting up...awake and looking at the fire. Perhaps the rabbits were a mistake as she looked at them.

“They were...they were all I could find.”

“What did you use?” She asked.

“I only used 'it' to find them...my hands to catch them.”

“They taught you to kill with your hands too...when you were over there?”

“It was normal for everyone. It's how we survived,” Kyle said, feeling almost ashamed that they could be talking about death this comfortably now. “I can find something else if you don't want...”

Rey shook her head. “You already killed them. Don't waste.” It sounded more like a defeat than a desired option.

The rabbits were hard to skin with his fingers. He used his hand to levitate the bloody meat over the fire. They could use the abilities in spades, he thought. That should be okay.

The meat itself was tasteless but Kyle ate his whole. Rey could only manage half of hers. He wanted her to eat more, but that would be asking too much of her.

“Water?”

Kyle was about to reach his pockets and realized to his own stupidity that they carried no possessions of any kind. Not even a damn water bottle. He actually thought they could survive like this?

He would have to go back down the mountain, find a stream, and something to gather the water with.

Rey got up the second he did. Now in a different light, Kyle could see that her face was unusually pale, still dirty from the blood on her face. He could sense her need to not only drink but to clean all the reminders off her skin.

“I'll get it.”

But Rey was not listening. She was already trailing behind Kyle out of the cave. On the steep path down, he took his time, looking back to see her struggling to get her legs moving from rock to rock. They had to rely on sound to find a source in the middle of the night...thankfully not too far from the mountain base.

But they had to use their hands and mouths like animals just to drink and clean.

For only a brief second, Rey felt refreshed. She wasn't smelling so much blood on her person anymore. But she was starting to feel light-headed just thinking about everything. She thought that getting back up would do the trick. 

THUD.

Kyle quickly looked up and around, ready to attack the source of the sound...with the gift if he had to.

But he couldn't see straight...not until he got up...not until he looked over and saw Rey had collapsed on the ground.

“Shit. Rey!”

He hurried to check her. She seemed very limp and he wasn't sure if he was actually feeling her pulse of it was just his special senses that he was feeling. Why couldn't he see that she wasn't feeling well sooner? He thought it was just trauma, just stress…

“No, Rey. Don't do this!” He begged. “Stay with me, please!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhangerz r fun


	3. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bored again. Another chap for you.

He was given a decent room, similar to the one that used to define his childhood, only this one was bland and lacking in decoration. Outside his only window, he had a beautiful view of the outside and could even watch the sun squeeze its way in-between the mountains at dusk.

It was what laid outside his door that made Kyle feel uneasy. The hallway was dark, with rows of steel doors whose contents would likely remain a mystery to him. The only people he would ever see were guards carrying heavy arms. Snoke insisted that it was for his own safety which was probably why the guards were often rude and trustworthy with him...even going so far as to give Kyle a curfew.

He managed as best as he could, holding onto the belief that this was still the far better alternative to his home...to his family who had lied to him. At least here, he knew who he truly was now...what he was truly capable of. It was now only a matter of learning about it all.

Kyle went to sleep, unaware of the eyes that watched him in silence, mechanical eyes that allowed Snoke to keep a close watch on him 24/7. The wheels in Snoke's head had been turning ever since he observed Kyle and Rey in the medical room together for the first time. Never had Snoke ever expected to take on another child capable in the Force. Rey was already far more advance than any of the subjects that EmpireCo ever had in its time. And training Kyle could take years that First Order didn't have if they were to be successful in resurrecting Project Jedi.

Snoke held weekly meetings with his staff often to discuss Rey's progress but the introduction of Kyle to their labs created a change of course.

“The boy is powerful. I can sense it,” he said. “This is the best thing to happen to us.”

“What about his parents?” asked one of the scientists. “Are we not going to track his family?”

“He has not heard from his uncle in years. His mother is not as strong in the abilities as her son is. Likely, why she chose to keep their family history a secret. They don't know that the boy is here and we must keep it that way. Is that understood?”

The other scientists in the room nodded.

“One other thing, if we are to train him...it must be alongside the girl.”

Snoke's proposal took them by surprise. “Together, sir?”

“Yes. Our new tests will heavily involve their interactions with one another. They will eat together, take their injections together, it is our new goal that they form a strong bond.”

The scientists were weary of this idea...mostly because of Rey. She was kept and observed in a room similar to Kyle's only hers did not have a window and far more padding. As sweet a child as she was, Rey was considered too powerful to ever live a normal life outside the labs. It seemed only Snoke and Dr. Phasma were capable of being around her without something going haywire.

Nevertheless, Kyle was given his daily injection then was practically shoved into what seem to be a child's playroom, all pink and tacky that would make someone his age puke. But it was the room that Rey spent most of her time in outside of her own bed, outside of all the tests.

“So you weren't made here?” she asked him.

“No.”

There was nothing for Kyle to really do in this room while he waited for whatever tests they wanted to put him through. He was stuck in a chair far too small for his tall structure watching the dolls in the dollhouse shift around on their own. Rey was kneeling down infront of them in deep concentration.

“But you have a mommy and a daddy?” Almost on queue a woman doll and a man doll slid from opposite side of their tiny boxed room and came together as one. “Did they put you here?”

“Well...it's kinda complicated,” said Kyle. He wanted to get away from any thought of his family quickly. “What about yours?”

“I don't have a mommy and daddy.”

Kyle looked up at Rey. “What?”

“Doctor says I'm a tube baby.” She looked to him as if hoping that he would be able to explain that to her, since she was a child and didn't understand much. Kyle took pity. This little girl was the labs new Anakin Skywalker, a creation of the lab from conception and to be trained and raised for only one purpose. Snoke seemed confident that Rey would not fall to the same fate of his grandfather.

He hoped so too.

Shortly after, they had both been retrieved from the room, to change into patient gowns and to be given, oddly enough, haircuts.

Rey only got a short trim was Kyle was given a buzzcut leaving a mere thin layer of fuzz on his head. He wondered if it was just to keep them clean.

They were then placed in a room, similar to the one they first met, only with more machines. They were placed on separate medical beds while Dr. Phasma was decorating Rey's head with an unusual array of wires.

Kyle began to panic. “What are you doing?” 

“Lie down, Kyle.”

“No.” The boy was now sitting up in his bed. “Why are you putting those things on her?”

“Can I get some help in here, please?” Dr. Phasma demanded.

Some assistants entered the room and had to restrain Kyle. In the midst of their attempts, the lights began to flicker causing everyone to pause.

From the observation room, Snoke seemed pleased even the assistants struggling to strap Kyle into his bed. The boy's abilities were starting to react to emotion. That was a good thing in his mind.

The fight was eventually lost and now Kyle and Rey were both lying in their beds with electrodes covering their heads. It still completely disturbed Kyle how calm and relaxed Rey was through it all, as it this wasn't the first time they tested her in this fashion.

“This will hurt less if you just cooperate for once.” Dr. Phasma shook her head as she grabbed a couple of syringes. This time however, the liquid was not red.

“We need you and Rey to be asleep for this,” she said.

This time Kyle tried to relax but the injection still hurt like hell. He never had a chance to ask what was happening before his eyes gave in and all he could see was darkness.

And then came the voices.

_“Can you hear me, Kyle?”_

It was Snoke...in a dream?

_”This is no dream, boy,”_ the man's voice called back. _“Now relax. I'm going to take a look into your mind.”_

His head started to hurt. But it hurt even more to see flashes of the halls of his school...the kids laughing at him as his lunch tray somehow threw itself on him. They mocked him for his lack of coordination, but Kyle knew it wasn't his coordination that was the problem. He made lights flicker whenever he felt angry. He accidentally sent a flying pencil into a kid's head without even lifting a finger and it resulted in him getting beaten into a concussion. They called him “freak”. They called him “monster”. Though to be fair, he started to dress like one. He didn't know why. It just felt right.

The scene changed to him in a yelling match with his mother and father. The night the truth became clear. He was arrested and accused of violently strangling a teacher. There were no witnesses but he couldn't get anyone to believe him when he cried how he didn't even touch him. 

It took him a couple of days of being confined to his home before his parents would finally approach him. His mother was apologetic...trying to get him to understand that she was only trying to protect him to give him a chance at a normal life.

But Kyle was never going to forgive either of them. They knew he wouldn't be normal before he was even born. It infuriated him. He was going to find where he truly belonged and he was never going to go back…

_”Now then,”_ he heard Snoke say. _”Commence thought exchange.”_

The scene changed. Kyle was looking into the labs...being pushed down a hallway, encased in a glass box. There were men surrounding the box, carrying guns. They were afraid of the crying, the crying he thought was coming from him.

Until he realized that his body was far too big for this glass box that he was in. And then he looked down witnessing the tiniest hands and feet he had ever seen on himself.

He could hear voices, voices of concern and more flashing lights.

They called for Rey.

And then he understood. She had told him she was a tube baby. That she had no mother and father to greet her when she was born. Rey only learned about such things through Dr. Phasma. He watched the doctor tell Rey was special she was. But there were moments where she hated it...the rules...the injections...the isolation. Mentally throwing objects at people was her only means of expression. From the very beginning the labs had been her entire world. Kyle was starting to feel a sense of frustration and even lonliness...the things Rey herself likely felt.

_”Kyle?”_

And now he was hearing her voice. _”Rey? You can hear me?”_

Machines began beeping erratically in the distance.

Snoke was looking over all the monitors. “It's working. They've entered each other's minds.” 

_”That man and lady...they called you Ben.”_

_“I...I don't know what you're talking about,”_ he said to her. Kyle's body suddenly began to feel drained. He was starting to feel very sad though he had no reason why. He was more sad than scared.

“This is better than we thought,” said Snoke. “They're exchanging emotions!”

__________________________________________________________ 

 

The past seven years were now a godsend, giving him enough strength to carry Rey on his back as he trek into unknown territory. She felt too light...too cold. He had placed his USMC jacket over her but he knew it wouldn't be enough tonight. The temperature was dropping with every minute he would wander aimlessly. He held out hope for the nearby presence of a building or any kind of structure, but he sensed nothing in his path.

“Rey?”

He was getting no response but he could feel her. She was still present, barely hanging on.

“Don't give up,” he told her. “I know you want to but I need you, Rey. We can...” Kyle needed the right choice of words. “We'll be okay. I...I miss them too.”

His hand reached instinctively to grab hers. Cold as it was, he swore that he felt some attempt by her to intertwine her fingers into his own.

He thought then and there that maybe keeping her awake would do the trick, letting her know that he was still there. “There's something I never told you,” he huffed. “All those years ago...you were right. I did lie about my name. It's not Kyle. It's...”

“Ben Solo!”

The source of the voice came from the trees ahead. Ben acted quickly. It was all instinct, lifting a large rock from nearby and sending it hurling towards the approaching figure.

The rock, however, stopped in midair.

Kyle tried to get it to move again. But the man, who was now getting closer used a wave of his hand and the rock was sent flying into a tree instead.

Before Kyle could even respond, he suddenly found himself unable to breathe. His grip on Rey was lost as she fell unceremoniously to the ground.

After a few seconds his throat was clear again.

The man appeared closer in the moonlight, an older bearded man with greying blonde hair. He seemed fit to be a woodsman, could almost come off looking like a lumberjack.

“Sorry about that.”

Kyle took only a second to look at the man's face. “You...”

“Your mom and dad have been looking for you.”

“You're going to tell them, uncle? I wouldn't do that...”

“You're right, Ben,” the man said. “I sense none of us are safe now.” He looked over at the girl on the ground. “Now, you want help with your friend or not?”

“Don't!” Kyle was kneeling over Rey. “We're not going anywhere with you!”

“Don't be stupid, Ben! I know why you're here. I know where you've been all these years.”

“And yet you never came to...”

“I wanted to, believe me. But I couldn't risk them looking for your mother, too. Could you?” The man paused and was listening intently to the sounds of the woods. Kyle was feeling alarmed. He sensed them too. “They're getting close.”

“I'll kill them,” said Kyle without hesitation.

“They'll kill you.”

“Does it matter now?”

“Yes it does!” the man yelled. He was getting agitated as hell with the boy. “Now listen to me! I have a cabin a couple of miles from here. They won't find us there, but we have to go now!”

Kyle was angry and found his uncle to be untrustworthy, all for the right reasons. He looked down and saw Rey was becoming more pale.

At that moment, the choice was being made for him as he scooped Rey up in his arms and followed the man he once called uncle further into the woods.


End file.
